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| Photo Credit: Ceneri
Calls for addressing the lactation gap are growing louder, with the paediatric community stressing on the need to scale up human milk banks and encourage breast milk donation. The medical fraternity opines that efforts should be made to bring more donors into the fold to ensure a self-sustaining system.Lack of awareness, stigma and misconceptions continue to be the key reasons for the low turnout of lactating mothers donating milk at the Comprehensive Lactation Management Centre (CLMC) and Human Milk Banks set up in the Keralam, according to doctors.Dr. Riaz I., former president of the Indian Academy of Pediatrics (IAP) Keralam, said that the scarcity of human milk to address the clinical demands for preterm or sick infants in hospitals can be resolved by scaling up human milk banks. “Mother’s own milk is the best for the baby, and in its absence, donor human milk should be used. But often, formula milk has to be provided to these infants, which can be avoided if more donors came forward,” said Dr. Riaz, who is also the superintendent of SAT Hospital, which is attached to the Government Medical College, Thiruvananthapuram.
Former national president of IAP Dr. S. Sachidananda Kamath said that despite every effort, no one has been able to recreate human milk. Artificial milk has to be relied on when hospitals do not have enough supply of human milk, he notes. “There is a perceptible gap between lactation requirements and breastmilk utilisation. Setting up more milk banks across hospitals and encouraging more donors will help provide essential neonatal care and nutrition to babies,” said Dr. Kamat, who is the superintendent of the Indira Gandhi Co-operative Hospital, Ernakulam.The Institute of Mother and Child (IMCH) in Government Medical College, Kozhikode, sees about 100-110 sick, vulnerable newborns requiring intensive care everyday. Dr. Deepa K.S., nodal officer of CLMC, at the hospital says that their patient load is high. “While we can provide lactation support, a gap prevails. The same scenario prevails in other high-volume centres across the State and can be addressed if more donors come forward,” said Dr. Deepa.
